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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27376411">Kill Your Darlings</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/deej_nicolson/pseuds/deej_nicolson'>deej_nicolson</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>One of Us Is Lying - Karen M. McManus</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Codependency, Exes, F/F, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Gossip, High School, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Love, M/M, Multi, Murder Mystery, NaNoWriMo 2020, Romance, Secrets, Sibling Bonding, Snooping, Underage Drinking, Underage Smoking, newspaper club, relationship drama</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:00:24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,675</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27376411</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/deej_nicolson/pseuds/deej_nicolson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>17 year old Maya Hawthorne never expected her journalism career to start at Bayfield High. A member of the school newspaper, Maya tends to keep to herself, worried that the newspaper could become the next About That if she strays too far from the truth, and goes into the kitchy gossip that her peers want her to.</p><p>That’s when Simon Kelleher is killed during detention, and the four others there are made responsible for his death. As the news media struggles to find answers, Maya finds herself snooping and scooping to find out who could’ve done this. After all, the Bayview Four claim that the phones that landed them in detention were placed, why would someone want to frame four people for the death of someone no one really liked?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Addy Prentiss/TJ Forrester, Cooper Clay/Kris, Leah Jackson/Original Female Character, Nate Macauley/Bronwyn Rojas</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hey guys and welcome to my first attempt at a One Of Us Is Lying fanfiction! This was written for NaNoWriMo 2020 and is basically told from the perspective of a minor OC of mine, as well as her friends, family and her ex-girlfriend Leah Jackson :D I hope y'all enjoy this dumb fic!</p><p>Also I have casted the fic myself, and I will be writing up a cast list on my tumblr (wokenhardies) so if you wanna check it out, plz do! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>“Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.”</em>
</p><p> </p><p>- Stephen King, On Writing: Memoir of the Craft</p><p> </p><p>Monday, September 24th, 5:45pm </p><p> </p><p>Epoch Coffee was preparing to close up for the day, when the Hawthorne siblings received the news of Simon Kelleher’s death. Epoch would usually close at about 6pm, but Joanie Hawthorne preferred her children to get a headstart as her husband Markus prepared dinner back home. </p><p> </p><p>The eldest Hawthorne, 20 year old Anderson, had been cleaning the tables when the TV in the back corner of the cafe showed a birds eye view of Bayview High School. It was the local news, and as he raised a brow, he looked over at his sister, 17 year old Maya, who was sweeping the floors.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Maya, anything interesting happen at school today?” He asked, suddenly. </p><p> </p><p>Maya looked up, somewhat startled. She was starting to get in a rhythm, and was pretty sure she’d have to start again. </p><p> </p><p>“Uh… No?” She said, incredulously, “I mean, it is Bayview. Nothing exciting happens here.”</p><p> </p><p>Using the cloth he’d been using to wipe the tables down, Anderson gestured to the tv screen, that was now showing a news story that had been played out. A student from Bayfield High had died in hospital from a peanut allergy about half an hour ago. While the death would normally have been deemed an accident, there was the little problem of the person who died --</p><p> </p><p>Simon Kelleher, known to Bayfield as the creator of the popular gossip blog <em> About That </em>. Maya shuddered at the idea of the blog - constantly finding assumptions about individuals from contradicting evidence and displaying it as truth. The people believed it, but Maya was understandably skeptical. </p><p> </p><p>Simon had been in detention that afternoon with four others. Their names were displayed proudly on the screen - Bronwyn Rojas, Nate Maccaulay, Adelaide Prentiss and Cooper Clay. The teacher - known technophobe Mr Avery - had caught them all for having phones in their bags, but the students claimed that the phones weren’t theirs. </p><p> </p><p>But they couldn’t discuss it at all; there had been a calamity outside, Mr Avery went to sort out the crash and about 15 minutes later, Simon took a sip of water and almost immediately collapsed, eyes bulging, lips blue, choking noises escaping his mouth. </p><p> </p><p>The other thing everyone knew about Simon was his peanut allergy, but the epi-pens at the school had conveniently gone missing. </p><p> </p><p>The good news was someone called 911 so Simon wasn’t dying on the laboratory floor. The bad news was that he did end up dying anyway. But the death was incredibly suspicious -- as far as Maya knew, there weren’t peanuts in water. She had been standing there, stock still, for 5 whole minutes. </p><p> </p><p>Anderson, noticing how uncomfortable she looked, shoved her slightly, causing her to flinch and spring back up. She shook her head and faced Anderson, a glare crossing her features.</p><p> </p><p>“And?”</p><p> </p><p>“Just asking, like did you know the guy?”</p><p> </p><p>“Everyone knew Simon.” Maya stated, returning to her sweeping task, continuing it as if nothing had happened. “If you didn’t know Simon, that’s your problem.” She sighed. </p><p> </p><p>Those who didn’t know Simon would know him eventually. <em> About That </em> was notorious, spilling secrets from students and destroying their reputations, livelihoods, relationships and more. Maya was one of the lucky few who hadn’t been targeted by the blog. Simon was a very private person, hilariously enough - Maya didn’t even think he had many friends. The only one who she knew was Janae, Simon’s best friend, who also was very quiet.</p><p> </p><p>She sighed, looking over at Anderson who’d since returned to wiping down the tables. After the brief moment of dialogue between them, Epoch Coffee was quiet once more, aside from the brief muttering of the news. This couldn’t have been an accident, Maya thought, someone definitely wanted to kill Simon, she was sure of it. </p><p> </p><p>xxx</p><p> </p><p>Monday, September 24th, 7:30pm</p><p> </p><p>“Poor Simon.” Joanie stated as she looked up from the pasta bake her husband had prepared. </p><p> </p><p>Maya was just picking at the bits of cottage cheese and broccolini between the pasta. She held her tongue, didn’t want to argue back, was still thrown out of the loop by the news of his death. </p><p> </p><p>Simon wasn’t meant to be pitied. He was a disgusting, degenerate, scumbag, who profited off people’s secrets. The problem was that he now was a <em> dead </em> disgusting degenerate scumbag who profited off people’s secrets. And most adults didn’t like to speak ill of the dead. When she didn’t respond, that’s when her father - Markus - cleared his throat.</p><p> </p><p>“Maya, are you alright?” He asked, “You haven’t touched your food.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, uh… Yeah, I’m fine.” Maya sighed. “I’m fine.”</p><p> </p><p>Joanie looked over at Markus. “She has been through a traumatic incident.”</p><p> </p><p>Maya chuckled. “Mom, I didn’t even <em> know </em> him.” </p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, however,” Joanie continued, “He was still a peer of yours, someone who could’ve been a friend. Hearing that someone died? That young?”</p><p> </p><p>Anderson rolled his eyes. “Yeah, but there’s many people who died young.” He stated. </p><p> </p><p>In order to shut everyone up, Maya returned to her dinner as if nothing had really happened. But her stomach was twisting. God, anyone would’ve gotten the chance to kill Simon, but would they have done that during detention? She didn’t even know <em> why </em>those four (and Simon, of course) had been targeted with the phones being ‘planted’ in their bags, supposedly. There was also the car accident that happened a few minutes before Simon’s reaction -- would someone have willingly set that up? She knew that Bronwyn was smart, but she wasn’t psychic. And while Nate was a criminal, he wasn’t exactly a mastermind.</p><p> </p><p>That also ruled out Cooper and Adelaide. It wasn’t that they weren’t smart, far from it - while Adelaide definitely gave a sort of bubbly popular girl persona, she was the most socially conscious person that Maya knew, and Cooper had good grades so he could stay on the baseball team. It was more that the complicated planning wouldn’t be something they would be likely to do. </p><p> </p><p>She didn’t bring up her concerns during dinner. Maya had a habit of getting obsessive - after all, she wanted to be a journalist after she left school. And she didn’t want this to look like another dumb bugbear of hers. Maybe her concerns weren’t warranted, and it would just be revealed to be a freak accident. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Tuesday September 25th, 8:50am</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“There will be grief counselling provided in the auditorium all day,” Mrs Park stated from the front of the class, as Maya looked up from her book. “You may leave class any time if you feel the need to speak with someone about this tragedy. The school is planning a memorial service for Simon after Saturday’s football game, and we’ll provide those details as soon as they’re available. We’ll also be sure to keep you up to date on his family’s arrangements once we know them.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It felt so strange. 24 hours ago, this kid was going to homeroom with the rest of them. Today, he had been dead for 16 hours, and people weren’t coping. She hadn’t seen people </span>
  <em>
    <span>cry </span>
  </em>
  <span>over Simon’s death, but there were people who were certainly shaken. It didn’t help that Maya had Bronwyn Rojas in her homeroom, one of the four others who were there when Simon passed. And the poor girl had everyone’s eyes on her.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>As far as Maya knew, Bronwyn was a straight A, goody two shoes, honor student. She had never broken a rule, which is what made her sudden detention expedition more surprising. Even for something as minor as just happening to have a phone on her - which, to be honest, every kid in the school did - was basically heresy. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Once the bell rung, signalling the end of homeroom, Maya stood up and grabbed her books, about to walk out of the classroom when she noticed that Mrs Park called Bronwyn to stay back for a few minutes. Maya paused for a moment, before shuffling outside the classroom door. She made sure to stand, undetected, trying to make herself appear hidden against the wall. The good news was that she was rather ‘generic’ looking, so no one would really notice. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Bronwyn, Principal Gupta wants all of you who were in the room with Simon to receive one on one counselling today,” Mrs Park begins to explain, “She’s asked me to let you know that you’re scheduled for eleven o’clock in Mr O’Farrell’s office.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Maya’s eyes widened. Mr O’Farrell? The school guidance counsellor? The guy who basically only existed to give careers and collegiate advice? </span>
  <em>
    <span>That </span>
  </em>
  <span>Mr O’Farrell was in charge of grief counselling? Bronwyn seemingly shared Maya’s confusion with this, until Mrs Park clarified that the school was bringing in a professional. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Maya’s brow furrowed. Okay then, it was that serious. She stretched up from her position and downright bolted to her first class before anyone saw her. But it seemed like everyone was so racked by grief and confusion because of Simon’s death that none of them even noticed that she was running past. She frowned, she had AP English first period, followed by History, she should focus more on that then whatever the hell was going on with Simon’s death.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But the idea just fascinated her, in a sort of morbid way. Everyone wanted Simon dead. Why would someone use detention to try to speed it along? And who would? No one made any sense as suspects - Bronwyn hadn’t featured on the blog (yet) and the others pretty much didn’t care. Addy and Cooper were too popular, and Nate’s record pretty much preceded him every time he walked into a room. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But she had a sinking feeling that those reasons were the perfect way for no one to suspect them. She’d have to tell someone about it, but she wasn’t sure who.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>xxx</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Tuesday, September 25th, 3:25pm </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What?!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Anais Taylor’s shrill cry of disbelief echoed through the Newspaper Club classroom. Maya pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, Anias was always a drama queen, as expected of the current president of both the drama club </span>
  <em>
    <span>and </span>
  </em>
  <span>the newspaper club. She also was a type A, obsessed with details, and possibly the worst person for Maya to tell her hunch. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Maya, you gotta be joking,” She began to pace, “A </span>
  <em>
    <span>murder</span>
  </em>
  <span>? At </span>
  <em>
    <span>Bayview</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sharon Martinez, a mousy teenager described by many as ‘preppy’, sighed and looked up from her laptop. “Yeah, I hate to tell you this, but Ally’s right.” She turned back to the screen, “The worst crime that’s happened at Bayview was just a simple run of the mill lunch stealing.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh, and drug dealing?” Oliver Tate raised a brow. He was incredibly tall and athletically built, his parents got him into polo when he was young, but he wasn’t as ‘swotty’ as the stereotype made him out to be. “C’mon, if that can happen here, who’s saying a murder isn’t off the cards?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Anais stopped pacing and turned to Oliver with wide eyes. “Yeah!” She said, in an exaggerated stage whisper, “But are we supposed to report on it?” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Oliver shrugged. “Well, why not?” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Maya rotated her neck a little bit, rubbing her hand behind it. “It’s just a hunch, Anna, don’t panic,” She said, “I’m not gonna let us become the next </span>
  <em>
    <span>About That</span>
  </em>
  <span> in Simon’s absence.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Absence is a funny way of saying ‘untimely death’.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Maya shot a playful glare at Sharon, who gave her a wink. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Anais frowned, “Yeah, well I don’t want that to happen.” She whispered, “After all, how will that make </span>
  <em>
    <span>us</span>
  </em>
  <span> look?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t think even Simon cared about how he made himself look.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, but just because that wasn’t an issue to </span>
  <em>
    <span>him-</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Anais froze, holding her arm slightly, as if realizing she was partway through her rant, and going back to the classic ‘never speak ill of the dead’ form. “-He… He did tell some good stories, didn’t he?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Oliver laughed. “Yeah, stories that destroyed people’s lives, Anais, quit kidding yourself.” He folded his arms, “Someone wanted to kill Simon, and I think Maya knows who.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Maya paused, twiddling her thumbs. She looked down at her feet and bit her bottom lip. She actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>didn’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>know who wanted to kill him out of the four that were in detention. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It was a classic, almost Christe like mystery. The door was locked, an authority figure left, and a person whom no one liked and everyone had a vendetta against died in mysterious circumstances. But Maya wasn’t a Poirot or a Marple, she was a normal teenage girl. A normal teenage girl who just happened to have more curiosity than others. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Wyatt Chen, who’d mostly kept out of the conversation up until this point, cleared his throat. “I think maybe we should give Maya some space to figure this out.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Maya nodded in response, and the rest of the Newspaper Club backed off a bit, returning to their work on other stories. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The group had all met in Freshman year, and now they were the only people in charge of the newspaper. Thanks to </span>
  <em>
    <span>About That</span>
  </em>
  <span>’s founding by Simon, people tended to avoid the Bayview Gazette as it was too ‘boring’. It didn’t have any juicy gossip or scandalous stories, just the stereotypical stuff that most school newspapers had - news on big sports games, academic achievements, clubs, arts programs etc etc. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Maya would’ve loathed to admit it, moreso now that Simon was dead, that she wished the Gazette got more reads than </span>
  <em>
    <span>About That </span>
  </em>
  <span>ever did, even if that meant letting go of her integrity and sinking to the levels that Simon did. But god, the entire of everyone remembering its name for more reasons than it being just the school paper? That would’ve made Maya’s head spin. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Her train of thought was interrupted by an email sent to her from Anais. Anais looked up.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, that, just a list of advice letters you have to respond to.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Maya sighed. She was pretty much the only person in charge of the current Bayview Gazette advice column ‘Ask May Anything’, a pun on the Reddit Ask Me Anything. It had been named after her when she entered sophomore year, and while she didn’t particularly </span>
  <em>
    <span>like </span>
  </em>
  <span>the job, it was always fun to act like she knew what people were going through. People could ask her questions on friendship, schoolwork, relationships, family advice - all anonymously with just their first initial. Not even </span>
  <em>
    <span>Maya </span>
  </em>
  <span>knew who these people were. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The first question caught her eye;</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Hey May. I’m a guy, and a massive jock. Everything’s going okay for me at the moment, except… There’s this guy. And I’m in love with him. I’ve been dating him behind my girlfriend’s back, but I’m terrified of my dad finding out I’m gay. What am I supposed to do? Yours, C”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Maya read the message over with wide eyes. She took a deep breath and began to draft out her reply.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Greetings C. I understand that fear of rejection - I didn’t know what my mom and dad would think if I tried to come out to them - but I suggest you stay strong. If your dad truly loves you, he’d understand! After all, you’re still into the same hobbies and activities you were, you just love the same sex. Don’t be afraid to cut him off if he doesn’t get it, give him time to understand.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She bit her bottom lip. God, she was asking someone for help with coming out. A </span>
  <em>
    <span>jock </span>
  </em>
  <span>no less. She wasn’t sure who it was, no guy at Bayfield would </span>
  <em>
    <span>dare</span>
  </em>
  <span> imply they were one of the ‘queers’, jock or not. It was perfect leverage for About That, but now that he was dead… She shook her head, and sighed, stretching out her fingers against the laptop.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Best wishes, May.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Thursday, September 27th, 12:45pm </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The week went by as normal, with little to no questions asked about Simon’s death. Maya, for her part, had returned to her normal routine, with considerably less snooping then she thought. This was until today;</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“Attention, please. Would Cooper Clay, Nate Macauley, Adelaide Prentiss and Bronwyn Rojas please report to the main office. Cooper Clay, Nate Macauley, Adelaide Prentiss and Bronwyn Rojas to the main office.” </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>As Maya stood by her locker, her eyes were glazed over, almost in a trance. She saw Cooper Clay standing beside his girlfriend Keeley, but their conversation was blurred out by a repeat of the announcement over the loudspeaker. Cooper gave Keely a quick kiss on the cheek, and it appeared rather awkward to Maya. She then watched him adjust his backpack and walk in the direction of the main office.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She </span>
  <em>
    <span>could </span>
  </em>
  <span>follow him, but she didn’t want to get in trouble for being too nosy. So she sighed, turning in the opposite direction and walked off to her own class. She had AP German, and didn’t have time to focus on the drama surrounding Simon’s death. But this meant she spent most of the class, head in her workbook as she attempted to answer simple grammar questions, as her brain was ticking over.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Why was she so hyperfocused on those four kids? Why was the story not making sense? Why did she even care? She shook her head and sighed, muttering something about the questions so the teacher wouldn’t think otherwise. She didn’t want to look like a creepy stalker, but god, if it meant finding answers, it meant finding answers. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Maybe she would talk to Anais and the rest of the Newspaper Club about it. Maybe they would help her find some answers. If they let her, of course. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>xxx</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Thursday, September 27, 7:30pm</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>A few hours after Maya got home from school, and had her head stuck in AP History homework, she was greeted by a forwarded email from Anias. The subject line read “Well, I guess you were right”, which caused Maya to raise a brow in confusion.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>When she opened the email, she blinked. It was a link to Simon’s blog. It was still updating? After he died? What happened? The headline of the page read “About This”, and she quickly saw the horrifying post that confirmed her worst suspicions.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I got the idea for killing Simon while watching Dateline.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I’d been thinking about it for a while, obviously. That’s not the kind of thing you pluck out of thin air. But the how of getting away with it always stopped me. I don’t kid myself that I’m a criminal mastermind. And I’m much too good looking for prison.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>As she read through the post, Maya quickly opened a notebook and started writing down notes from the confession. Whoever had accessed Simon’s blog definitely understood Maya’s suspicions, and seemed to be toying with the whole idea.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>On the show, a guy killed his wife. Standard Dateline stuff, right? It’s always the husband.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Maya laughed when she read that, before composing herself for a second with narrowed eyes, continuing down the page with a scroll. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>But turns out a lot of people were happy to see her gone. She’d gotten a coworker fired, screwed over people on city council, and had an affair with a friend’s husband. She was a nightmare, basically.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“But not worth murdering for those petty reasons, right?” Maya whispered, immediately spotting the thread. She skimmed through the post, she didn’t really care about the results of the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Dateline</span>
  </em>
  <span> investigation, more focused on what Simon’s killer was trying to say. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>That’s the kind of person you can get away with killing: someone everybody else wants dead.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Let’s face it: everybody at Bayview High hated Simon. I was just the only one with enough guts to do something about it.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>You’re welcome.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Immediately, Maya felt her stomach drop down to her pelvis. She held the desk tightly, eyes wide. She’d never felt so upset to be right before. Her brief existential crisis was interrupted by a text coming through from the Newspaper Club groupchat.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>ANAIS</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>I can’t believe it. Maya was right!</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>OLIVER</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Right about what?</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>SHARON</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Simon’s death. See?</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sharon sent the link to the groupchat, and after a few seconds of stunned silence, a confused Maya quickly typed out something;</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>MAYA</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>How the hell did you guys get this?</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>SHARON</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It was forwarded to me by someone. Apparently this guy is sharing it around.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>WYATT</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Guess whoever did it didn’t wanna cover their tracks</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>MAYA</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>That’s obvious</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Maya was still shaken up by the whole thing. She couldn’t believe it, at all. Her assumption that Simon’s death was a murder was </span>
  <em>
    <span>right</span>
  </em>
  <span>. And she felt sick just thinking about it. Yes, everyone at Bayview High wanted Simon dead, but they didn’t want it to happen. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Much like Simon’s claim that his website allowed people to ‘let off some steam’, killing Simon was nice in theory but… It wasn’t something people actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>wanted </span>
  </em>
  <span>to do. Like, much like the lady on Dateline that the killer had been talking about - Simon’s only crime was being an asshole, that wasn’t punishable by death.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And out of all four of the major suspects, none of them had a vendetta against Simon in order to want to kill him - Nate didn’t seem to give a shit about featuring on Simon’s website multiple times, and the other three weren’t even talked about. It seemed just like petty high school drama - capitalizing on a death to stir up trouble.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>MAYA</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>God, I hope this guy’s just joking.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>WYATT</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>For everyone’s sake, me too. But, then again.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>MAYA</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Yeah, everyone wanted to kill Simon, but no one did it!</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>ANAIS</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Until now, I guess.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>MAYA</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>…</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>MAYA</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>I can’t believe I was right</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>SHARON</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>I thought you were gonna say ‘i told you so’</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>ANAIS</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sharon, I think even Maya didn’t believe she was correct</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>MAYA</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>I hoped I wasn’t</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>MAYA</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But I guess I am</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>OLIVER</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Hey! Don’t be so sad! You didn’t know, okay?</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Maya read Oliver’s message with a smile. She always admired him - his athletic attitude and the fact he could talk to any girls he wanted. He was so upbeat and peppy that she really wished that she was him. She sighed, quickly responding to the messages.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>MAYA</b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Thanks guys. Guess I needed the pick me up.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>MAYA </b>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>gtg, I have AP History work to finish up :( </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And after she sent the message, she turned her phone on Do Not Disturb mode to try to focus on her work. Even though the concept that someone murdered Simon was still niggling in the back of her head, she figured that it wasn’t as big of a deal. It might’ve just been a prank. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But if it was real… God, she hoped it was just a prank. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>xxx</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Saturday, September 29th, 6:15pm</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Friday had gone by without much drama, the only big news being that Officer Budapest had gone to each of the houses of the ‘suspects’. No updates had been posted to About That from the killer since the big one on Thursday.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Or at least, Maya was pretty sure that no updates had been posted. She refused to check the blog, after all, knowing her clicks would stir the killer out of the woodwork to post more. However, everyone else still did, which meant that her abstaining from taking part in the drama was rather counterproductive. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The memorial service was that day, and the Newspaper Club had chosen to meet at the event. They were sitting in the football field, on the bleachers, looking over at the remaining students, all holding candles in solidarity. They too, had candles on them, but they were more sitting beside them. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>That was when suddenly, Oliver’s eyes widened, looking down at his phone with wide eyes. Maya looked over at him. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s up?” She whispered. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“There’s been an update.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>With that phrase, Maya sprung up from her position and ran behind Oliver to see what had been posted. Oliver looked over, cleared his throat, and started to read;</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Time to clarify a few things.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Simon had a severe peanut allergy - so why not stick a Planters into his sandwich and be done with it?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Too obvious,” Maya answered the rhetorical question. “Simon would never willingly have peanuts unless someone held a gun to his head.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s what they say as well.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I’d been watching Simon Kelleher for months. Everything he ate was wrapped in an inch of cellophane. He carried that goddamn water bottle everywhere and it was all he drank.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>But he couldn’t go ten minutes without swigging from that bottle. I figured if it wasn’t there, he’d default to plain old tap water. So yeah, I took it.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Maya rolled her eyes. This guy was acting more guilty about stealing a water bottle than they were about murdering a person. Even if no one liked Simon, the way he died was painful and incredibly shocking. And the fact that they were more guilty about stealing his water bottle? It disgusted Maya.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I spent a long time figuring out where I could slip peanut oil into one of Simon’s drinks. Someplace contained, without a water fountain. Mr Avery’s detention seemed like the ideal spot.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I did feel bad watching Simon die. I’m not a sociopath.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Bullshit.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Maya definitely agreed with Oliver’s sudden expletive. She never heard him swear before, but it was quite clear this whole thing was heating him up. He paused, clearing his throat once more, almost apologetically, and continued to read the post.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>In that moment, as he turned that horrible color and fought for air - if I could have stopped it, I would have.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“They could’ve stopped it?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, let me finish!” Oliver stated, now finishing the post off in one fail swoop. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>I couldn’t, though. Because, you see, I’d taken his EpiPen. And every last one in the nurse’s office.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Oliver immediately closed the tab, took a deep breath through his nose, and grumbled.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Bastard.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Maya whispered, “If what he’s saying is true then he’s definitely a bastard.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Why would someone lie about this?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“To stir shit up, of course.” Maya shrugged, “C’mon, guys, maybe we should join everyone in the field. Hear what Gupta has to say.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Anais nods, grabbing her candle and beginning to walk towards the ten-yard line, followed by the rest of the group in succession. They were like ducks in a row, all dressed in black as they lined up at the back of the group. Maya, being about 5’4”, could barely see over the heads of the footballers they stood behind. But she could still hear Principal Gupta as she spoke;</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“What a terrible week for our school,” She stated, “But how inspiring to see all of you gathered here tonight.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>As she began the service, Maya’s attention was more focused on the fact that everyone around her was a suspect. Everyone wanted Simon dead, for no matter how small of a crime. He’d even forced a student to attempt suicide - Leah Jackson, who Maya swallowed at the thought of. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>At the time the story of the amount of Freshmen she slept with came out they had been dating. Keyword, ‘had’. But Maya cared more about her reputation than her girlfriend, so she quietly called the relationship off. She’d seen her walk off before the service began. God she wished she would have followed her, apologised for calling it off, maybe even gotten Oliver to drive them both home where she and Leah could kiss and make up… </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But that was just wishful thinking. It wasn’t possible for something like that to happen in such a short time. Maybe that’s why she was so mad at Simon -- his rumor mongering took away the best thing she ever had, and for what reason? Some sort of ‘revenge’ for being bullied by some asshole kids? Leah didn’t even </span>
  <em>
    <span>know </span>
  </em>
  <span>him, why would that matter?</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Maybe the killer was right. Maybe Simon’s life wasn’t worth anything.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
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